December 16, 2008

Wine is maddening

Yes, wine is maddening. Tonight we were having a simple pasta and salad dinner, and we wanted a little red wine to match. Nothing fancy, so I thought...why not give the 2007 M. Lapierre Vin de Pays des Gaules a go? This is the country wine of reknown cru Beaujolais producer Marcel Lapierre, apparently a mix of younger vine gamay and other "experimental" things. Surely it's gulpable with simple noodles, right?

No. Actually my wife called it. This wine tastes like rose. Which isn't a bad thing, expect I was NOT looking to drink rose tonight, even light ruby colored, otherwise red wine that happens to smell and taste like rose. How maddening.

Sure, I could chill it a bit and change my attitude. It would probably be great, as the cherry aromas and flavors were attractive. But it's 22F outside. I need RED wine. So down to the cellar for a half bottle of 2004 Felsina Chianti Classico, purchased a while back when the distributor closed out what is a great vintage of this little wine.

But at first this was a little weird too. Moderately dark in color, instead of the regal Brunello-like perfume I remember, this one showed slightly raisined, volatile aromas that made me make a little face. Maddening!

Ah, with time this wine unwound and was its normal, delicious self. Dark cherry and berry aromas, with classic almond, balsamic, and earth aromas. Then full flavored, lightly tannic and brightly acidic with dark, brooding flavors for a basic Chianti. This one needs more time to relax, but it's really good for its level. In the end, just perfect with the pasta, it just took a while.

And yes, I should have just started there. That's maddening too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Lapierre VdP is young vine (under 20 years old) Morgon made to be a cafe-style Beaujolais. Other producers often mix other grapes into the Vin de Pays bottlings, but Lapierre's is supposed to be only Gamay. It's not a red for when you want something big and hearty, for sure, and is definitely more comfortable with salami, cheese and bread than it would be with pasta and a red sauce.

Vincent Fritzsche said...

Yeah, this was a case where my food match was awful. People might say it's over the top to be so mindful of food/wine matches, but this one was bad. The next night, the rest of the Lapierre was delicious with roast chicken.